Dyson's Fear 3.0

RIP Dave Arneson

Labels: games, geekdom, news

posted by Jason @ 6:57 AM 0 comments

RIP Ms. Page

Labels: current events, grieving, news, pop culture

posted by Jason @ 6:25 AM 0 comments

RIP Uncle Forry

Labels: current events, grieving, news, pop culture

posted by Jason @ 9:44 PM 0 comments

Congrats

Well, it looks like my link to Anne Galloway's blog needs to be changed to Dr. Anne Galloway. Her PhD candidacy (if that's the proper terminology) has been a public adventure, and it's great to see that her hard work has paid off. The only sad part is that Mary wasn't here to see it. She was greatly inspired by Anne's work, and was the person who introduced me to her blog in the first place.

That said, congrats again, Dr. Anne Galloway, PhD.

Labels: mary chung, news, web

posted by Jason @ 10:58 PM 0 comments

My God, it's full of stars...

Labels: geekdom, news

posted by Jason @ 6:54 PM 0 comments

Gary Gygax 1938-2008

Labels: games, geekdom, news

posted by Jason @ 12:23 PM 0 comments

I'll take misleading findings for $1000, Alex

I present, via MSN:

Don't use iPod in lightning storm, doctors warn
Three Vancouver doctors are urging those with portable CD and MP3 players of a potential danger, after a local man was seriously injured while jogging in a thunderstorm.

Don't use iPod in lightning storm, doctors warn

The incident happened the summer of 2005. Witnesses saw the 37-year-old man thrown almost 2.5 metres after a tree he was running by was struck by lighting. The jogger had been listening to his iPod at the time.

The patient suffered second-degree burns to his chest and left leg, and burns on his neck and inside his ear canal.

Both of the man's eardrums were ruptured, and he suffered serious hearing loss and fractures in the jaw region.

Eric J. Heffernan, Peter L. Munk, and Luck J. Louis of the Vancouver General Hospital published their report, Thunderstorms and iPods -- Not a Good iDea, in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The reports says the use of an electronic device such as an iPod may not increase the chances of being struck by lightning, in this case, the combination of sweat and metal earphones directed the current to and through the patient's head.

The medics said while people can be struck directly by lightning, it is more common for lightning to jump to a person from a nearby object, such as a tree -- a phenomenon known as a side flash.

Opisthotonic muscle contraction may project the victim some distance, leading to further injury from blunt trauma, doctors said.

Because of the high resistance of skin, lightning is often conducted over the outside of the body (an effect known as a flashover), but sweat and metallic objects in contact with the skin can disrupt the flashover, leading to the internal flow of current and causing severe injuries.

Doctors said the jaw fractures the jogger suffered were probably caused by muscle contraction since there were no external signs of injury to the face.

There have been other recent warnings for potential injury caused by MP3 players. Some of them are:

* Temporary or permanent hearing loss due to the prolonged listening of loud music;
* Repetitive strain injury in the fingers from using the scroll-wheels and buttons; and
* Injury from the leakage of the device's toxic chemicals when the players are heated.

Safety officials have also warned of the dangerous and potentially deadly scenarios that can occur on the roadways when pedestrians and cyclists are listening to MP3 players and not paying attention to their surroundings.

Police and school administrators have also warned against the dangers of children being mugged while carrying the devices.

The real warning should be "don't jog in a thunderstorm, especially under a tree, dumbass." Y'know, it's that thing they've been telling us not to do since we were small children.

Man, when will humanity buy a clue?

Labels: news

posted by Jason @ 9:23 PM 0 comments

News meme - Silverman attacked

Okay, here's the CityNews clip:I've just learned that the same guy operates a store in Brantford, and it's occurred to me that I've actually met him. It was on the Wii release day, and he was one of the unlucky who didn't get one. Thankfully, he didn't turn violent, but he did give me his business card and promised me a free eye exam.

Labels: news

posted by Jason @ 9:53 AM 0 comments

Wait? You mean to tell me they're allowed in the first place?

This article, from MSN/Sympatico, made me scratch my head.

Ont. minister says cellphones shouldn't be in class

24/01/2007 11:05:32 PM

Ontario's education minister has added fresh fuel to the debate over cellphone use in schools.

Ont. minister says cellphones shouldn't be in class

On Tuesday, a Toronto trustee called for a ban on the devices which can allow users to take photos, send text messages, chat and surf the Internet.

Toronto District School Board Trustee Josh Matlow speculated that cellphones could be misused in the classroom. He said phones equipped with cameras could be used to take photos of examinations or even to search the Internet to search for answers.

"If I was taking a test I could go on to Google and get the answers pretty quickly."

Matlow said he has also heard reports of students "going into locker rooms in other cities and taking photos or videos and putting them on the Internet."

Rick Johnson, the president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association, says teachers and school boards are struggling to catch up with technology.

He agreed that text messaging and camera phones can take cheating to a new level.

Johnson said school boards may have to develop policies to establish rules for cellphone use in schools, but said at the moment it's up to schools and teachers.

It utterly blows my mind that the question is being asked. Of course they should be banned, just like any other electronic devices or, for that matter, the chewing of gum. I mean, we wouldn't be questioning the use of a portable DVD player would we? Granted, cellphones shouldn't be banned outright, but they shouldn't be allowed in classes. That's just a no-brainer.

It's like the mind-blower my mother told me years ago. When she was in college, they actually allowed people to smoke in class. Granted, it was the early 70s, but still....

Labels: news

posted by Jason @ 11:59 PM 0 comments